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Informist, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026

 

By Gopika Balasubramanium

 

MUMBAI – Traders added short positions to the options chain of information technology major Wipro after the company disappointed the Street with its margin guidance for the March quarter. Brokerages did not downgrade the stock but changed their target price, with some revising the target downwards and others upwards. The company's stock dipped 10% intraday to a two-month low. It came off the low to close 8% down at INR 245.95.

 

After market hours Friday, Wipro reported a low-single-digit sequential decline in its bottom line despite the top line growing at its fastest pace in 13 quarters. The fall in net profit was largely because of a one-time cost incurred by the company on account of the new labour codes. More than the fall in net profit, however, it was the lower-than-expected sales guidance for the March quarter that soured investor sentiment around the stock, prompting increased bearish activity in its options chain.

 

For the March quarter, the IT company guided sales to grow between 0% and 2% sequentially in constant currency terms. The revenue from IT services operations is seen between $2.64 billion and $2.69 billion. Many brokerages expect the margins for the March quarter to be diluted on account of the acquisition of Harman DTS and ramping up of large deal wins. Delayed spending by clients, the current global macroeconomic uncertainty, a decline in number of working days, and potential wage hikes are also likely to slow Wipro's performance in upcoming quarters. In spite of this, three broking firms increased their respective target prices on the stock by 3-4% while two cut their target prices by 3%.

 

Out-of-the-money INR 255-INR 260 call expiring January saw a sharp fall in premium and addition of new contracts, indicating that investors are short on these strikes. This means traders do not expect the stock to move to these levels in the near term. On the put side, traders bought contracts at out-of-the-money INR 240-INR 245 strikes in the January series, indicating that the shares could be slightly higher Tuesday but the rise will be limited. Buyers added INR 240 puts in large numbers, indicating that the stock is not expected to fall to this level. Maximum concentration of open interest in call contracts was at INR 250 strike and in puts was at INR 240. The highest addition of open interest for both call and put options was at INR 250.

 

"We are seeing fear among put writers and there is a negative change in open interest on the put side for strikes 260, 265, and 275," Bhavya Shah, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox, said. "The market does not expect Wipro to cross 255 in this series," he added. Immediate support for the stock is at INR 240 and resistance is at INR 250-INR 252.

Systematix Shares and Stocks (India) sees the management's Jan-Mar guidance of 0–2% quarter-on-quarter growth in constant currency reflecting continued macroeconomic caution, delayed deal ramp-ups, furloughs, and lower working days despite healthy deal wins and a strong deal pipeline. The brokerage maintained its "hold" call on the stock, but increased the target price by 4% to INR 236.

 

Motilal Oswal Financial Services, which has a "neutral" recommendation on the stock, said the Jan-Mar guidance suggests a "soft exit" to the current financial year even after including the incremental contribution from the Harman DTS acquisition. Excluding Harman DTS, the company's organic growth is likely to be around (-)0.5% in the March quarter, the broking firm said. This was because ramp-ups of two large deals have been postponed and discretionary spending remains cautious. "We think near-term revenue visibility will remain limited, as (there are) fewer working days in 4Q (Jan-Mar) and delayed ramp-ups...," the broking firm said.

The Nifty 50 Monday ended at 25585.50 points, down 108.85 points or 0.4%. Traders were short on the 25600 call, with premiums at the strike price declining over 78%. The 25600 call option also saw the highest addition of open interest. On the put side, traders bought 25500-25550 options, indicating that the 50-stock index will not fall to this level.

 

--Nifty 50 January closed at 25574.00, down 177.50 points; 11.50-point discount to the spot index

--Nifty 50 February closed at 25716.00, down 178.70 points; 130.50-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 March closed at 25900.00, down 171.10 points; 314.50-point premium to the spot index

 

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Punjab National Bank, Eternal, RBL Bank, Hindustan Zinc, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Polycab India, L&T Finance, Federal Bank, Infosys, Vedanta, InterGlobe Aviation, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Canara Bank, 360 ONE WAM, and BSE were the most actively traded underlying stocks Monday.

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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